Despite Slaughter, Syria 'All But Assured' to Be Elected to UN Human Rights Council

Why should a little slaughter prevent Syria from ascending to a seat on the prestigious UN Human Rights Council?

In a move reminiscent of his brutal father, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has dispatched his armed forces to try to snuff out the country’s five-week-old democratic uprising.

Thousands of Syrian troops backed by tanks and armoured personnel carriers stormed the southern city of Daraa on Monday, killing as many as 25 people, witnesses said. It was the first time the Syrian regime has resorted to such extreme measures against civilians in the current crisis.

“This is monumental,” said Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs Centre in Herzliya, Israel, and author of The Truth About Syria. “All the Arab regimes have a three-level priority of response,” he explained.

At the level one, “they hope the protests will go away and can be waited out.” At level two, “they respond with a mixture of repression and promises,” just the way Mr. al-Assad has, Mr. Rubin said. At level three, they resort to “heavy repression and killing people in order to destroy the protests and intimidate people from participation.”

“Assad has now gone to the third level,” Mr. Rubin said, noting that “even in the Shah’s Iran in 1978, as well as Egypt and Tunisia in 2011, the regimes did not go to level three because large elements in the elite did not want to do so.”

But hey, the folks at the UN have their priorities.

Human rights groups and a growing number of governments are working to prevent Syria from being elected to the U.N.'s top human rights body, as President Bashar Assad's security forces crack down on pro-democracy protesters.

Syria's election to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council is all but assured as one of four candidates selected to fill four Asian seats unless another candidate enters the race or Syria fails to win a majority of votes in the May 20 election in the 192-member General Assembly.

Since the 53-member Asian Group endorsed its slate — which also includes India, Indonesia and the Philippines — for the council in January, rights groups and some governments have engaged in a behind-the-scenes effort to keep Syria off the council.

Those efforts have gathered steam since a crackdown on pro-democracy protests since mid-March has left more than 350 dead and hundreds wounded, diplomats said.

One diplomat involved in the process, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultations are private, said he was confident that another country would be found to contest the election but declined to say which countries were being pursued.

Meanwhile, the White House has sprung into action and is now "considering" sanctions. That ought to scare the pants off Assad.

The White House is considering new sanctions against Syria amid a crackdown by that country’s government against pro-democracy demonstrators.

Syria is one of only four countries on the State Sponsors of Terrorism List and is already subject to heavy sanctions, limiting U.S. options.

As a result, new sanctions are expected to focus on the assets of Syrian officials close to President Bashar al-Assad. Such a strategy would mimic actions taken by the U.S. against Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

Obviously that's been such a success that Gadhafi is still in power. So why would Assad even blink?

U.S. President Barack Obama's direct attack on Assad's regime did little to deter the Syrian president, who apparently decided to escalate violence against the opposition on the assumption that the international community will not take dramatic steps against Syria - that is a similar move to the bombing campaign in Libya.

Assad is, in effect, mocking his international critics. He clearly has little interest in the international community's condemnation. He has understood that the reforms he offered the Syrian public not only did not quell the unrest, but may have even added fuel to the fire.

Evil Regime Agrees to Improve Human Rights Record

About time these bastards got their comeuppance in the court of world opinion!

The United States says it will do more to respect human rights, as the U.N. adopted its first-ever report on how Washington can improve.

The report included 228 recommendations, but the U.S. brushed many of them aside — raising heckles from adversaries such as Cuba, Iran and Venezuela.

Condemnation from such leaders of freedom and democracy like Cuba and Iran was clearly more than we could bear. Our collective heads hang in shame.

State Department legal adviser Harold Koh outlined nine key improvement areas Friday — ranging from civil rights to national security to immigration, including intolerance of torture and the humane treatment of suspects at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

In case you're wondering, our moral superiors will be watching.

Nations are held accountable for areas they agree to improve.

Except for Cuba, Venezuela and Iran, of course.

'We Are Now Reaching a Point of Decision, Very Clearly, On What Happens Next'

Of course "what happens next" will likely be the convening of a focus group to examine what to do next. That or they'll send a strongly-worded letter warning of dire consequences if the opinion of the world community isn't adhered to.

Here in America, what happens next is our fearless leader fills out his NCAA brackets before hitting the links again. The rest of the world, meanwhile, dithers and worry about the fine print.

Maybe they're just afraid of offending someone.

William Hague today said the international community is approaching a 'point of decision' on military intervention in Libya.

The Foreign Secretary, who is meeting fellow G8 foreign ministers in Paris tonight, also hinted the Government may consider arming rebels.

'We are now reaching a point of decision, very clearly, on what happens next,' he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

'Clearly a no-fly zone is one of the leading propositions. It isn't the answer to everything but it has been called for by the Arab League and is something which the international community must now consider.'

Mr Hague made clear that although a UN resolution backing a no-fly zone would be the simplest option, nations could still act under international law without one.

'In cases of great, overwhelming humanitarian need, then nations are able to act under international law, even without a resolution of the Security Council,' he said.

His comments came after former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind for an 'open and urgent' supply of weapons to the rebels, to avoid repeating the 'mistake' of the Bosnian war in the 1990s.

Sir Malcolm said: 'Having been defence secretary at the time I have, in retrospect, felt that (the arms embargo) was the most serious mistake made by the UN.'

Mr Hague said all arms exports to Libya - including to the rebels - are subject to a UN embargo, although he suggested that that could change.

'I wouldn't exclude various possibilities on this score,' he said. 'I think Malcolm Rifkind makes a very good case. Again, this is the kind of subject which has to be discussed with our international partners.'

By the time they rush to make a decision, Khadafy's forces will be in mop-up mode.

Analysts believe there is a very real possibility that Gaddafi's forces will have already secured victory by the time any global response is agreed.

Our Secretary of State is scheduled to talk some more today. She's great at talking. Making decisions, that's the tough part.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

Headline of the Day: UN Evacuated Over 'Suspicious Odor'

There's been a distinct odor emanating from the UN for decades. Somebody just noticed?

The UN Security Council and General Assembly were evacuated Tuesday because of a "suspicious odor," according to a UN spokesman.

I had no idea Hugo Chavez was visiting Manhattan.

Apparently there's a sewage backup.

A sewage backup caused a big stink at the United Nations on Tuesday, forcing diplomats and their staff to evacuate the Security Council and General Assembly.

Spokesman Farhan Haq said the evacuation was a precautionary measure after a strange smell was noticed in parts of the U.N. secretariat building. He said the odor was due to sewage backup possibly caused by high tides in the nearby East River.

Obviously global warming climate change is responsible for the rising tides in the East River.

UN Planning Special Commemoration to Mark 10th Anniversary of 9/11

So how will they go about marking the tenth anniversary of 9/11 in New York? Why, by convening another Israel-bashing hatefest, of course.

Next year, as New Yorkers observe the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the United Nations is planning a celebration.

It’s perverse. It’s inexcusable. And it’s business as usual in Turtle Bay.

September 2011, you see, also marks the 10th anniversary of the Durban Conference on Racism, a weeklong farce that accused Israel of being the world’s most racist nation and sought to undermine its very right to exist.

So last month Yemen sponsored a resolution calling for the anniversary meet-up. The idea is to create a forum for yet another round of Israel-bashing hate speech.

In a sane world, such a party would be ridden out of town.

At the UN, the resolution passed 121 to 19, with 35 abstentions.

Canada is fighting back by boycotting the coming “hatefest,” which it says scapegoats Israel and “promotes racism rather than combats it.” If only the United States were just as blunt.

“My delegation regrets that this resolution contains elements that require us to vote no,” said a US diplomat, who noted that he was “deeply troubled” that New York would be the venue.

Troubled ain’t the half of it.

There’s only one reason the new conference will convene in New York in September 2011: to rub salt in the city’s wounds, to dance on the city’s graves.

Participants at the original conference, which ended three days before 9/11, openly celebrated Islamic terrorism.

Durban I became what Holocaust refugee and former Rep. Tom Lantos described as “the most sickening and unabashed display of hate for Jews I had seen since the Nazi period.”

The follow-up conference in 2009 was no better. Durban II actually began on April 20 — Hitler’s birthday — and was highlighted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s keynote address.

Suspected War Criminal Lands Cushy Job at the UN

He must be a hit on the Manhattan cocktail circuit.

A suspected war criminal who allegedly played a key role in the slaughter of 40,000 civilians in Sri Lanka has landed a cushy job at the United Nations -- with full diplomatic immunity.

Human-rights groups are outraged that Shavendra Silva, 46, a top ex-military commander, was named Sri Lanka's deputy permanent UN representative in August, after which he moved to New York.

His arrival came a year after his troops defied international pleas and shelled a no-fire zone packed with women, children and elderly refugees, according to observers.

Silva also stands accused of mowing down a group of separatist political leaders who agreed to surrender and were waving white flags when they were shot.

"It's a slap in the face," said an investigator familiar with Silva, who last year oversaw the final months of a brutal 26-year civil war against Tamil separatists on the island nation off India's southeastern tip.

The war started in 1983 after the Tamils, a Hindu ethnic minority, were denied power by the ruling Sinhalese, Buddhists, and formed a violent resistance group, the Tamil Tigers.

"Thousands were killed or starved. There were massive human-rights violations and he's the No. 1 suspect," said the investigator, a human-rights group expert who asked not to be identified.

"And they send this guy here? There's no one other than him in the mission who was involved in this."

Moonbat Actor Named UN Goodwill Ambassador

Apparently just being a loudmouth actor with no tangible background in science is enough to get yourself a UN appointment. The latest is actor Edward Norton, whose qualifications for this new post is the fact he recycles or something.

Edward Norton, who is the renowned American actor has been named by the United Nations Secretary General - Ban Ki-moon as the UN’s goodwill ambassador for biodiversity.

The “Kingdom Of Heaven” star was given the role because according to the UN chief, as he and his family has been involved in issues bordering on sustainable development and conservation. And so now Norton has a bigger role to play, in his new capacity.

But the actor said he would use his status as a celebrity to create awareness on the ideals of environmental conservation. He said with the help of the United Nations, he hoped to highlight the activities of the United Nations in helping the environment.

Just what we all need: Another actor lecturing us about conservation while flying around the world on private jets.

The UN could really help the environment of New York City by packing up and leaving.

Ready For A Global Internet Tax?

The United Nations is proposing placing a global tax on internet usage in order to promote their wealth redistribution plans under the guise of the World Health Organization.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations' public health arm, is moving full speed ahead with a controversial plan to impose global consumer taxes on such things as Internet activity and everyday financial transactions like paying bills online — while its spending soars and its own financial house is in disarray.

The aim of its taxing plans is to raise "tens of billions" of dollars for WHO that would be used to radically reorganize the research, development, production and distribution of medicines around the world, with greater emphasis on drugs for communicable diseases in poor countries.

They even admit that their first attempt at this went down in flames at the climate summit recently held in Copenhagen, but they are not about to give up. The Moochers of Turtle Bay are now turning into out and out robbers.

Frankly it scares the snot out of me because I don't trust our folks in Washington anymore. They seem have to have foregone any recognition of soveignity of the nation, you know, the United States of America. Instead they are filled with this kumbaya one world vision.

The UN is not content merely with taxing the internet either. Wrapped up in this crap sandwich are some other provisions designed to take money from the working folks and give it to others.

What truly concerns the experts, however, is how to get the wealth transfers that will make the R and D transfers possible — on a permanent basis. The panel offers up a specific number of possibilities.

Chief among them:
• a "digital" or "bit" tax on Internet activity, which could raise "tens of billions of U.S. dollars";
• a 10 percent tax on international arms deals, "worth about $5 billion per annum";
• a financial transaction tax, citing a Brazilian levy that was raising some $20 billion per year until it was canceled (for unspecified reasons);
• an airline tax that already exists in 13 countries and has raised some $1 billion.

Everybody is head over heels in love with this romanticized version of Robin Hood, where stealing from the rich to give to the needy is noble. The problem is they don't recognize that the 'rich' that Robin Hood was stealing from wasn't the peasants, but rather the tax collectors enroute back to the sheriff with the peasants money. That whole stealing from the rich theme loses some luster in that light, but the UN and governments all around the world for that matter, are doing exactly that. Some sort of perverse Robin Hood, where now the tax collectors are the good guys.

I am fed up with the UN and am ready to implement the Bolton strategy in regards to this corrupt organization. If the United States doesn't stand up to them, I hope somewhere there are some countries which will tell them just where to stick this plan. Somebody has to believe in the sovereignty of a nation.

Neda Agha Soltan Was Unavailable for Comment

Yesterday we learned women in Iran who dare to get a little sun face imprisonment. As a reward, the UN named them to the Commission on Women's Rights. How sick are these people?

Without fanfare, the United Nations this week elected Iran to its Commission on the Status of Women, handing a four-year seat on the influential human rights body to a theocratic state in which stoning is enshrined in law and lashings are required for women judged "immodest."

Just days after Iran abandoned a high-profile bid for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, it began a covert campaign to claim a seat on the Commission on the Status of Women, which is "dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women," according to its website.

Buried 2,000 words deep in a U.N. press release distributed Wednesday on the filling of "vacancies in subsidiary bodies," was the stark announcement: Iran, along with representatives from 10 other nations, was "elected by acclamation," meaning that no open vote was requested or required by any member states — including the United States.

This is how they treat women in Iran.

Great News: Special Guest Coming to Manhattan

Maybe he'll stop by to see his pals at Columbia again.

Iran's Holocaust-denying, America-hating President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is planning to come to New York for a nuclear conference at the UN that starts Monday.

Iran has not said when Ahmadinejad would arrive, trailing gridlock and noisy protests through Manhattan in his wake. But Iran applied at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland for a visa for its delegation.

The visit will coincide with stepped-up U.S. efforts to win a new round of UN sanctions against Iran's nuclear programs.

So we have a maniac who wants to nuke Israel coming for a nuclear conference?

Only at the UN, folks.

'Your Problem is Not Mere Curiosity'

Some really clever excuse-making from this lowlife UN hack.

A former United Nations researcher told a federal judge that he viewed horrific images of child porn simply because he was curious.

"Stop rationalizing your actions," Judge Paul Gardephe said to Jose Antonio Ortega-Osona, as he meted out the punishment Friday.

"Your problem is not mere curiosity."

Ortega-Osona was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for possession of child pornography.

The images included a photo showing the genital mutilation of a 2-year-old girl.

"Horrific," the judge said. "Abhorrent to the court."

The 42-year-old researcher was busted in Canada in 2009 for toting a flash drive with 800 illegal photos.

A search of his home turned up a computer packed with 4,800 photos and 108 video clips of child porn.

Yeah, just a curiosity.

A shame this scumbag got such a light sentence.

UN Kooks: Use More Condoms, Save the Planet

These people are just relentless with their banal obsession with non-existent climate change, global warming or whatever they're calling it these days. In the latest installment of idiocy, today something called the UN Population Fund chimes in with the brilliant observation that if we just had free condoms then the planet will be saved from a non-existent threat. Or something like that. Of course they don't say who'll pay for all these "free" condoms, so just assume it'll be you, the taxpaying suckers.

The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.

The agency did not recommend countries set limits on how many children people should have, but said: "Women with access to reproductive health services ... have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower growth in greenhouse gas emissions."

"As the growth of population, economies and consumption outpaces the Earth's capacity to adjust, climate change could become much more extreme and conceivably catastrophic," the report said.

The world's population will likely rise from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050, with most of the growth in less developed regions, according to a 2006 report by the United Nations.

The U.N. Population Fund acknowledged it had no proof of the effect that population control would have on climate change. "The linkages between population and climate change are in most cases complex and indirect," the report said.

It also said that while there is no doubt that "people cause climate change," the developing world has been responsible for a much smaller share of world's greenhouse gas emissions than developed countries.

Of course the assertion that "people cause climate change" is nonsense and a hoax played on the gullible, but let's play along.

You see, if we don't listen to the UN, we're all doomed!

Still, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the U.N. Population Fund's executive director, told a news conference in London on Wednesday that global warming could be catastrophic for people in poor countries, particularly women.

"We have now reached a point where humanity is approaching the brink of disaster," she said.

According to the wackjobs we've been on the brink of disaster for decades yet nothing ever happens. At some point when these "disasters" do not come to fruition will the media ever challenge their cockamamie assertions that have been proven wrong every time?

Move Along, Nothing to See Here

So the madcap mullahs own a skyscraper in New York, among other valuable tracts of land. Big deal. The Islamophobic media reports:

Putting the squeeze on Tehran, the feds moved Thursday to seize a mosque in Queens and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper from a nonprofit organization suspected of secretly funneling money to Iran.

"The Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran," said Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, who sued to grab more than $500 million in assets.

The foundation, started by the Shah in 1978 and taken over by the revolutionaries who deposed him a year later, owns a majority of 650 Fifth Avenue, also known as the Piaget building, a 35-story granite-and-glass office tower at 52nd St.

The building was valued at $650 million in 2007 and generated $4.5 million in rents from financial, hotel and apparel companies with offices there.

Bharara said that for two decades, the Alavi Foundation has been secretly controlled by a series of Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations.

So glad to see our friends at the United Nations repaying their gratitude.

UN Issues Non-Binding Piece of Paper Condemning North Korea

Oooh, they must be quaking in their boots. This AFP dispatch does all it can to build up Obama into some muscular figure even though it took "days of wrangling" just to put words onto paper for a completely meaningless and irrelevant gesture.

Embarrassingly futile is what this all is.

The White House said Monday the United Nations sent a "clear and united" message to North Korea over its rocket launch, despite days of wrangling needed to agree a non-binding statement.

Obama led global condemnation of the launch on April 5, calling for Pyongyang to be punished for breaking international law over the test, seen by Washington and its allies as a veiled test of a long-range missile.

Backed by the United States and Europe, Japan had pressed for a resolution carrying more weight, but veto-wielding China and Russia urged restraint to avoid harming prospects for six-party talks with North Korea.

But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement that Obama was satisfied with the eventual outcome, after all 15 members of the Security Council endorsed a compromise text earlier Monday.

A clear and united message of compromise for a meaningless resolution.

Pathetic.

Even more harshly, the UN vowed to enforce previously imposed sanctions, which apparently were never enforced to begin with.

The United Nations Security Council vowed to enforce previously imposed sanctions against North Korea as part of a condemnation of Kim Jong Il’s regime for its April 5 rocket test.

The 15-nation panel unanimously adopted a statement yesterday that said the launch was in “contravention” of a 2006 resolution barring North Korea’s development of missile technology. The statement demands that no further launches be conducted.

A lot of good that did.

'Consider Me Your Baby and Breast-Feed Me'

Very charming, these Saudis.

A Jordanian woman has filed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia's mission to the United Nations, claiming an official repeatedly exposed her to "egregious" and "perverted" sexual harassment that included groping, punching and trying to kiss her.

In the suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, Gulnar Hijazi accused the mission's Charge d'affairs Abdul latif Sallam of making sexual advances on a weekly basis shortly after she started working there in 2006.

She claims that Sallam made remarks about her mouth and other body parts and said he wanted to suck her breasts. Another time, he said: "Consider me your baby and breast-feed me."

Hijazi also said that Sallam e-mailed hard-core pornographic images to her and other female employees at the mission, punched her once in the chest and made a lewd gesture simulating masturbation.

The lawsuit, filed this week, claims Sallam reached under the table and groped Hijazi during a 2007 meeting at the U.N. and squeezed her breast last summer in the corridor next the copy machine room.

UN Human Rights Honcho Busted With Kiddie Porn

Stunning, isn't it? I know it's difficult to believe, but not all these UN officials are as reputable as they claim to be.

A high-ranking human rights worker with ties to the United Nations was nabbed at Kennedy Airport Tuesday with kiddie porn in his suitcase, officials said.

Clarence Dias, 65, president of the International Center for Law in Development, whose offices are located at the UN, had the smut in his carry-on bag as he passed through security on his way to a flight bound for Bangkok, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Transportation Security Administration officials doing a random bag check around 8:20a.m. allegedly found a DVD whose cover featured an apparently underage nude boy and an adult male in Dias' handbag, prosecutors said.

The video's title - "Winner Pub Pattaya" - apparently refers to a beach resort in Thailand, authorities said. There were also other lewd photographs in the bag, authorities said.

Hmm. And he was headed to Thailand. I wonder what for?

Dias - who holds a doctorate in law from Bombay University and Cornell Law School and has taught at Boston College of Law - claimed the porn was for research, authorities said.

"He admitted it was his - but tried to play it off. He said he was doing research on how to better make sure kids' rights were not abused," a police source said. "Yeah, sure. It's always research."

Calls to Dias' office went straight to voicemail Tuesday.

The humanitarian group calls itself "a Third World NGO [nongovernmental organization] concerned about human rights in the development process."

This is the latest sex scandal to roil the UN.

The agency came under fire in 2002 for turning a blind eye to wide-scale sexual abuse of West African refugee children by its own aid workers and peacekeepers.

They'll also likely turn a blind eye to this.

Gateway Pundit and Instapundit link. Thanks!

Charming Terror Supporters Endear Themselves to Manhattan Residents

Poor Flip. Imagine having to listen to this crap all day?

Living a block from the United Nations has its occasional drawbacks. Whenever you see cops setting up metal barricades on Second Avenue, you know one of those drawbacks is getting ready to spoil your day.

Yesterday, the occasion was a noisy protest over the war crimes and genocide being perpetrated by Israel and the United States against Hamas' terrorist leaders the Palestinian people. Fourteen floors up, there was no escaping the blaring din of misplaced outrage, so I trotted downstairs to capture some footage.

Can you count the keffiyehs? How about the number of screaming children being used as propagandist props?

Swarthy Munchkin Returning to UN

Wonderful. I'll assume this little maggot will again be visiting his friends at Columbia University.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he plans on going to New York to attend the 2008 United Nations General Assembly session.

It will be President Ahmadinejad's third trip to New York since he took office in August 2005.

During his last trip to New York in September 2007, Ahmadinejad requested to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center, the site of the September 11 attacks, to pay tribute to the victims of the attack. His bid, however, was rejected by city authorities.

Meanwhile, the hirsute Hitler said the United States empire is soon coming to an end.

Bring it on, little man.

Leading AIDS Expert Says UN Overhyped Risks

Of course most impartial observers could have told you this 20 years ago, but at least it's refreshing to see an expert in the field admit the truth.

Of course he'll probably be demonized and ostracized, but he'll at least have a clean conscience.

We'll bide our time, but it won't be long until the global warming alarmists start admitting they've been pulling a scam themselves.

The United Nations has systematically exaggerated the scale of the Aids epidemic and the risk of the HIV virus affecting heterosexuals, claims a leading expert on the disease.

The numbers of people worldwide with HIV have been inflated and the UN Aids agency has wasted billions of pounds on education aimed at people who are unlikely to become infected, says Professor James Chin, a former senior Aids official with the World Health Organisation. He also accused UNAids of misleading and scaring the public by promoting 'myths' about the disease, such as that poorer people are most at risk, and of being guided in its approach by 'political correctness' rather than hard evidence.

Chin will detail his claims this week in London in a meeting hosted by the International Policy Network, a free-market think tank, where he will launch a new report, called 'The Myth of a General Aids Pandemic'. Despite his controversial reputation, Chin, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, will also explain his concerns when he meets Department for International Development officials who specialise in HIV and Aids.

'UNAids has systematically exaggerated the size and trend of the pandemic, as well as hyping the potential for HIV epidemics in general populations,' said Chin. 'UNAids's perpetuation of the myth that everyone is at risk of Aids has led to billions wasted on prevention programmes directed at general populations and youth who, outside of sub-Saharan Africa, are at minimal risk of exposure to HIV.'

SHocking that the UN would waste billions of dollars, huh?

UN Admits Anti-Poverty Program Is In Shambles

Makes you wonder why we keep pouring more money into this corrupt, inefficient mess known as the United Nations.

Also makes you wonder why the Democrats never miss an opportunity to pander to them. Probably because both entities just love sucking on the public teat and want to guilt-trip the taxpaying suckers out there into doing more to help the children.

For all the waste and fraud we've seen, this one may take the cake.

The multibillion-dollar procurement business of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the U.N.’s flagship anti-poverty agency, is a gigantic shambles, according to UNDP’s own investigators.

Moreover, UNDP’s management has privately acknowledged that fact and is scrambling to fix the mess — even as it loudly denied concerns of a procurement scandal that have been raised by FOX News, among others.

In a confidential report obtained by FOX News, UNDP’s auditors have described the UNDP procurement organization that is spending well over $2 billion annually as:

— overwhelmed by its caseload at headquarters and in the field, while procurement ballooned from $800 million in 2003 to $2.5 billion in 2006 and $2.2 billion last year;

— often failing to provide plans to support its buying activities, which the report says causes many purchases of goods and services to be carried out on an "ad hoc basis" (in fact, more than $595 million worth of non-existent purchases were recorded, although the audit notes that they were not paid for);

— wallowing in shoddy paperwork and faulty bidding processes, which contributed to a "high number of waivers of the competitive process and to quality problems in the procurement process in general";

— lacking the expertise to evaluate hundreds of millions of dollars worth of its most expensive and important purchases in civic construction and high-tech communications;

— drastically unqualified: Fully half of the organization’s procurement staff around the world were not certified for the basic requirements of their jobs, while the auditors also found the six-hour course for those who were certified to be "inadequate." Additionally, the auditors noted, "there are entire offices without a single certified buyer";

— suffering from an "apparent" conflict of interest at the top, where the people charged with vetting the procurement process for flaws are also members of the procurement office staff.

But wait, there's more!

Even more ominously, the same auditors point out that UNDP:

— has no sure way of knowing whether it is doing business with organizations that the U.N. itself has condemned for terrorist ties and says UNDP country offices find the current manual system of cross-checking with U.N. terrorist sanctions lists to be "cumbersome and inefficient";

— has no formal policy for suspending or removing vendors for poor performance or corruption;

— and doesn’t ask new vendors for the identity of their owners or other corporate ties. This raises the possibility that vendors caught out for corruption or poor performance could simply switch names and reapply for approved status.

Read on. It actually gets worse.